Most countries outside the USA measure distance using the metric system. This means when you are traveling abroad you will see highway signs designating distance to a destination in kilometers. Or the speedometer on your rental car may show your speed in kilometers per hour (KPH) instead of miles per hour (MPH). You may see highway signs announcing the speed limit in kilometers per hour (KPH) instead of miles per hour (MPH).
In case you missed this in middle school a meter is just a few inches longer than a yard. If you string together one thousand meters, it is known as a kilometer. A mile is longer than a kilometer. If you are a geek on your feet, you can take the number of kilometers you see on a sign or on the speedometer and quickly divide the number by 0.62137119, but for most of us non-geeky tourists that is a bit cumbersome.
So, here is a quick lesson in converting kilometers to miles (or KPH to MPH) – if you see a sign that says the next village is 97 kilometers away and you wonder how many miles that is – drop the last digit (the 7 in this example) – multiply the remaining digit(s) by 6 – in this example multiply the 9 by 6 and the result of 54 gives you the approximate miles instead of kilometers.
Another example – you see a sign that says your destination 205 kilometers away – drop the 5 (always drop the last digit) and multiply the remaining digits (20) by 6 – your destination is about 120 miles away. One more example – the speedometer on your rental indicates you are rolling along at 145 kilometers per hour (KPH). Wohooo! Drop the 5 and multiply the remaining digits (14) by 6. You are tooling along at a cool 84 miles per hour (MPH). Still Wohooo! Of course, this is not exact, but it is close enough for those of us tourists who are not round-the-clock geeks.
May All of Your Travels Be Happy and Safe!